Three Harriers represented Northants in the English Schools National Championships over the weekend and experienced top flight completion for the first time.
Yannick Phippen took part in the Senior Boys 100m, running 11.6 in his heat, some way below his best of 11.1. Nonetheless, his achievement of qualifying for the championships is one which most athletes can only dream of.
Fran Ashworth, competing in the Junior Girls 800m, had a very difficult heat with the slowest time on paper, and two of the top U15 girls ranked in the country. Showing no signs or being overawed by this, Fran ran a very positive race taking the lead once they had broken out of their lanes, and taking them through in a fast 66s first lap. She continued to push hard on the second lap and with 130m to go she finally ran out of legs and tired a little in the home straight; however she was rewarded with a new lifetime best of 2.18.87, but unfortunately failed to make the final in which 7 of the athletes had achieved the National Standard of 2.16 in the heats.
Edward Cherry, competing in the Junior Boys 800m, also found life difficult in the heats, Edward started well and settled into 2nd position on the first lap which was completed in a fast 61s but struggled to stay with the pace in the final 300m and finished in a time of 2.09.44 which was some way below his seasons PB; however valuable experience was gained in competing at the highest level and Eddie was not too disappointed.
Both Fran and Edward hugely enjoyed the experience and are hungry to ensure they make the grade next year and hopefully progress to the final?